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Molene
Molene was the granddaughter of the former criminal known as The Mole. She had been a beauty queen in high school, and later followed in her grandfather's criminal footsteps. Molene had short dark hair, and she typically wore a hat with a garland and a veil that partially obscured her features. She also kept a gun in a waterproof holster which she wore at all times (including in the shower). The Family Business Upon the Mole's release from prison, he and Molene took up residence in an underground hideout beneath a city park. It was from there that they operated a jewel smuggling ring (run by the first of several criminals known as The Chameleon), with the assistance of the courier called Pouch. Molene, Pouch, and Mole were apprehended by police officers Lizz and Groovy Grove, but were released (Pouch on bond, Mole and Molene due to lack of evidence). After their release, Mole severed ties with Molene, though he refused to make a statement against her to Dick Tracy and the police. While she had been in custody, Molene's hideout was destroyed by Johnny Scorn in an explosion designed to eliminate the evidence against her. Scorn later collected Molene and Pouch from the tavern where Molene had been drinking heavily. Scorn took the pair back to his penthouse apartment and brought them up to speed on his plans. He wanted to bring them both into his operation, in spite of the fact that Molene and Pouch stated a severe dislike for each other. Working for Johnny Scorn Over the next several weeks, Scorn sent Pouch on several smuggling jobs, while Molene stayed in the city. Molene believed that she and Scorn were growing closer romantically. After Molene had a second run-in with Lizz, Scorn showed Molene his family's quarry. Scorn operated the site solely as a pretense for retaining his license to own explosives, which he then sold on the black market. Scorn introduced Molene to a client, the beautiful revolutionary known as "El Tigress". Molene suspected that Scorn had a romantic interest in El Tigress, though he denied it. After the police sealed the trio in Scorn's underground office, Molene became emotionally unhinged. This was most likely due to a combination of fear, jealousy and resentment at being manipulated. She took one of El Tigress' hand grenades and playfully tossed it among Johnny's stash of explosives. El Tigress attacked her while Johnny made his escape through a secret underground tunnel. The grenade went off, igniting a much larger explosion that killed El Tigress and Molene. The only remains of Molene found by police were her hat and garland on a nearby bush. In spite of his stated dislike for her, Pouch joined the Mole in laying a wreath at the site of Molene's demise. Notes * During the police investigation,Tracy and his squad acquired a copy of Molene's yearbook from DeWitt High School. She was a member of the class of 1966, which means she would most likely have been born in 1947-48. This would made her approximately 23-24 years old at the time of her death in 1971. *Early in the Molene storyline, there is an extended sequence about Molene's release from police custody that typifies Chester Gould's approach to Social Commentary during his later years on the strip. *Mole claimed that Molene and Pouch (and by extension Chameleon and Johnny Scorn) worked for "an outfit". This may have been reference to the Apparatus, but this was not explicitly stated. Similarly, while Molene was never shown to have interacted with the criminal known as Diamonds (and his associates) it is reasonable to conclude that they had some affiliation, since Molene specialized in trafficking stolen gems. Category:Deceased Category:Villains Category:Smugglers